WE'VE MADE IT!!!!

This morning we got back on the road for the home straight to Asuncion.

Passed the border with no problem and made it to the centre of town...

Just so we didn't get too complacent, the back chain came off and knackered itself turning left at a busy junction, but we had the spare we'd got in Jujuy so that was fine. Made it to Los Alpes Hotel, but they were full. Got a place at another hotel nearby.

We just been out and had an amazing Mexican meal. Stuffed and happy.

We taken 32 days to travel a total of 5770 km (4400 dring the mototaxi and 1370 in  the lorry from Cobija to La Paz). Mototaxi has been amazing: until this afternoon we had had only two punctures and one broken chain during the whole trip. So now it's two punctures and two broken chains... I have the utmost respect for Lifan now. We have asked so much from our trusty mototaxi and she never let us down. Completely reliable, tough as old boots, with a huge heart. Thank you Lifan!

It hasn't really sunk in that it's all over. Tomorrow we'll find out where to leave mototaxi. That will be very sad. It's been a tough, but very rewarding journey and it's been great to do it together. We were worried it would put a lot of strain on our young marriage, but actually it's definitely made us stronger!

We still have a few days until our flight back to Lima so tomorrow we're off to the Iguazu waterfalls and to see as much of Paraguay as we can in a few days.

Thank you very much to everyone who sponsored us so generously. We're so happy to have completed the challenge so as to justify your generosity.

Lots of love,

M & M 

Out the other side...

The next day was cloudless and gradually became very hot, although I don't think it got anywhere near 50ºC like we'd heard it could. We stopped for about 20 mis every 50km or so to let the tyres and engine cool down.

At the end of the day, about 75km befroe Formosa, the clouds began to build up dark and heavy and suddenly we were in another thunderstorm: lightening, heavy rain and very stong gusts of wind. Michi guided us through and we decided not to push on all the way to the border, but to spend the night in Formosa instead...

 

Out into the dreaded Chaco...

We were pretty lazy the next morning and ignored the alarm clock and didn't get on the road until about 8.30.

The conditions were actually perfect: the sky was completely covered in a thick layer of grey cloud. It stayed dry and cool. By 2pm we had reached the town of Ingeniero Juarez were we did a final oil change.

The Chaco was not as scary as we'd expected. It's completely flat and is basically and impenetrable mass of vegetation. Similar to the rainforest, but the trees are not so tall and I guess that the flora and fauna is completely different. It just goes on and on. Not the place you want to break down.

The were a lot of one particular type of tree. The young ones had a kind of spiny bark and as they got older their trunks swelled up in the middle.  

We reached Las Lomitas before dark and found the Lomitas Hotel. From the outside this establishment seemed OK and the room only cost 65 pesos, but when we got back after some dinner we found that our room was infested with huge hyperactive cockroaches. We managed to get some spray off the girl at reception and then spent about 45 minutes chasing them around, under the bed, behind the wardrobe, into the bathroom, etc, etc... Disgusting! We hung the mossie net and prompty fell fast asleep...

Slow progress before the Chaco...

We spent last night in Libertador General San Martin. Not a lot going on here. We had a nice dinner, but the waiter then tried to rip us off. We woke at about 5am to massive thunder claps and the sound of torrential rain. We waited for the weather to subside and didn't get on the road until midday.

Stupid queues for the only cashpoint in town and nowhere to change dollars so we set off with only 200 pesos, hoping that we'd be able to get hold of some more in Embarcacion...

The roads so far in Argentina have been in excellent condition. This is a mixed blessing - we make good progress and it's comfortable, but there is lots of traffic and they drive like murderers here. It's terrifying when you can only go 50kph and have huge juggernauts and psycho buses bearing down on you at at least 120kph. Wet roads and shit visibility don't help our nerves.

It started raining heavily again this afternoon and parts of the road were flooded. We arrived in Embarcacion soaked and shivering. The one bank was closed, but we managed to find an overpriced hotel that would change a $100 bill so we now should have enough cash for fuel, food and accommodation for the rest of our time in Argentina.

We're very apprehensive about news reports we've heard about serious flooding in the Argentine provinces of Chaco, Corrientes and Misiones. Apparently it's so bad that the electricity is down too. We'll just have to take things as they come. Weather permitting, we'll head off tomorrow around 7am and try to make it as far as Las Lomitas where we've been told there is accommodation. Hopefully the day after we'll be in Formosa. Despite the depressing weather and scary roads, Mototaxi is in rude health and full of beans. She's really looked after us and it's going to be very sad to have to say goodbye to her eventually. One good thing about the rain is that we won't have problems with the tyres or the engine overheating. This is a bonus since tomorrow we will try to cover over 400km...

 

Our friend Julio

I have to say a bit more about the time we spent in Jujuy, where we met one of the nicest people that we have encountered on the whole trip.

We arrived in town at about 4.45pm on the Saturday. Mototaxi needed urgent attention and we were very worried that we'd be caught again by the weekend and lose a day. The rear brake shoes were crystalised again and using the back brakes produced a horrible shrieking noise and sent an unbearable vibration through the whole mototaxi. One spoke was broken and others were loose after our two days of killer corrugations on the Altiplano. Also, it had been ages since we'd cleaned the air filter and carb and, of course, we needed to get hold of some spare chains and a pump that actually worked.

We blundered around the town asking random people were we could find a motorbike mechanic. Eventually we found ourselves in what looked like a pretty dodgy part of town and saw a collection of bikes on the pavement outside a yard. A scruffy looking guy with a capand no laces in his trainers came out and we explained what we needed doing and that it had to be done now. The mechanic quoted us 100 pesos. We haummed and hahhed a bit and told him that we thought that was a bit steep, compared to what we had paid for aservice in other countries. He reminded us that we were now in Argentina and since we had no choice, we reluctantly accepted.

To cut a long story short, the mechanic's name was Julio and he turned out to be the most amazing guy. By 22.30 he had completely sorted us out, including all the spares we needed. During the service, Michi had looked around for somewhere for us to sleep, but everywhere she found had been pretty horrible and over priced. When she returned a bit shaken by a scary encounter in oneof the hotels she had looked at, Julio insisted that we stay the night in his workshop where he had a bed, a shower and a TV, as well as three tiny kittens, a stray street dog and the remains of various dismembered vehicles. We gratefully accepted and invited him to dinner. By 11pm were were tucking into fresh grilled meat and ice-cold beer and Julio was telling us about his life, his family and the history of the region.

We discoverd that Jujuy had been a very important area in the war of independence fromthe Spanish crown at the beginning of the 19th century. After a good night's sleep we got up on Sunday and first went for a leisurely breakfast and then visited the museum to learn more about the local history.

At 3pm we met Julio back at the workshop. He oiled the chains for us and had even brought a history book with him to give to us. Once we were all packed up, he guided us on his scooter out of town to make sure we got on the right road to Libertador General San Martin... It's exactly this sort of meeting with random strangers that this trip is all about for us. These experiences really bring home the fact that at the end of the day, regardless of nationality, religion, culture, language, we are all human beings on this planet and we are all basically the same. If we all treated each other with mutual respect and generosity and without predjudice, or rather always treated others the way we would like to be treated ourselves, so many of society's problems would disappear... Wouldn't that be nice!

We left Jujuy with a warm glow of friendship and faith in human nature and followed a woodland back road that would take us to San Pedro and beyond...

Out of time...

Got to leave the internet cafe now. Spent last night sleeping in a very friendly mechanic's workshop in San Salvador de Jujuy. Mototaxi is all serviced and ready for the final push across the Chaco. This afternoon we're heading of for the town of Liberador General San Martin... 

Across another border?

This morning we had a lie in until 7am and then set off on the road the the Argentine border. We'd stopped at the petrol station to fill up and then spent another 45 minutes cleaning, regreasing and tensioning our precious chains.

The road was basicaly one almost continuous diversion with a few short sections of beautiful new tarmac. In a year's time this road will be amazing, but for us it was still a dirt road, although with very few corrugations, thanks God!

We made it safely to Villazon at around noon and went straight through to talk to the Argentine Customs to see if they were going to let us through...

Michi went to charm then and came back withing 5 minuite with a spring in her step - we have the letter of authority so no problem, we could pass. Excellent! What a lift!

Stupidly, we set off back into Bolivia to find a petrol station to fill up with cheaper Bolivian fuel. We wasted about 20mins looking, couldn't find one, realised that we were only going to save about $3 max since our spare tank was already completely full so headed back to the border. By this time a bus had arrived and there was a huge queue at Bolivian immigration to get the exit stamp. We had to wait about 45 mins to get this sorted before we could go on to clear customs. By this time the Argentine Customs guy had buggered off for lunch and we have to wait another hour and a half for him to return.

It was a apin to have to wait, but good in the end since we met a lovely Kiwi couple, Carlos and Megan who were also waiting. They were one a year's trip returning from Europe to New Zealand and we spent most of the time chatting with them.

At last the offical came back at at 5pm Argentine time we were through the border and thinking of steaks and wine...

We'd been told that there was really nowhere to stay until the town of Humahuaca, about 150km south. We only had about 3 hours of light left so we'd definitely be doing some night driving...

We set off in a hurry, but the roads were amazing - perfect tarmac with a big wide hard shoulder... Civilization!

We buzzed along at about 45kph over the puna. After some time we began to pass though amazing mountains. Not a scap of vegetation and icredible rock formations in loads of pastel shades of red, purple, blue and green and yellow.

It was pretty scary driving - huge lorries and buses zooming past us and almost blowing us over with trailing turbulence. Then it got dark and for the last hour it was freezing cold and even more scary.

Eventually we arrived in Humahuaca and managed to fine El Hostal Azul. After a hot shower, a delicious steak and a truly amazing bottle of wine we went to check out the annual party that was going on in the town... 

Wow!

Well, the road south from Challapta to Uyuni is by far the worst road we've travelled on yet! Totally confusing to begin with, but we finally found ourselves on the right road after blundering through several abandoned villages.

The corrugations were quite incredible - we realy thought that the mototaxi was going to shake itself to pieces. The road went on and on and on...

20km before Uyuni we saw a sign for a Salt Hotel so we went to check it out. Drank a coke with the manager and then set off across the salar to reach Uyuni. We were a bit disappointed to discover that a huge dust storm a week before had turned the whole salar a pale shade of beige, but still it was great to be flying along ath 60kph.

As we approached Uyuni the town was completely obliterated by an enourmous dark brown cloud which fired out ragged bolts of lightening. We were very worried that we were going to get fried - there were no other vehicles around and since it is so flat we felt like we were sticking up dangerously.

Found a nice place to stay with a great hot shower. We had dinner with two motorcyclists who were heading to Chile.

This morning we set off early for the salar again. We'd hoped to make it to Inca Huasi island, but we didn't have time so settled for a long photo session in the middle of the beige salt.

Got back to town in time for a huge lunch and then went to see the train cemetery - incredible!

When we got back to the hotel we discovered that we had left the rucksack with all our tools and spares in the mototaxi while we were having lunch and of course it had been nicked.... SHIT!!!!!

We had a mini panic and then went to find what replacements Uyuni had to offer - not much, but we found a pump and the tools. No spare chains, sprokets, cables, etc, etc.

We've given our existing chains a serious wash and regrease and will have to take it very easy for the rest of the journey - maybe we'll find some spare chains in Argentina, but they are unlikely to have any long enough for the back wheels - it seems that mototaxis only exist in Peru. What idiots we are!

Steaming South...

We left La Paz very early on Monday morning. The mototaxi was being looked after by a little old lady in El Alto so we got a cab up through the capital. It was amazing - the sun just coming over the mountains to the east and the city illuminated by the dawn as we wound our way up.

The road south was asphalt and very flat and we made excellent time across the Altiplano.

We arrived in Challapata, about 350km, by 4pm, found somewhere to sleep and cooked a huge pasta dinner. Nervous about the next day - the road to Uyuni has a very bad reputation :-(

...and on...

We left Yucumo at around 3pm, with 4 hours before it started to get dark. From here the road finally began to climb out of the seemingly endless flat of the amazon basin and up into the 'ceja de selva' (the eyebrow of the jungle), that is, mountains covered in extremely dense tropical forest. It was spectacular. The road was terrifying, Jeronimo was wired on coca, it was getting dark, it had started raining and we were heading into a thunder storm which was illuminating the sheer drops and hairpin bends with regular bolts of lightening. We were far too tired to be worried.

Despite being such a scumbag, Jeronimo was and extremely professional truck driver. He pressed on and on until finally we arrived at his home in El Alto at 5.10am. Exactly 48 hours after we had left Cobija and during those 48 hours he had only slept for 4 hours... Quite amazing!

Once he arrived home Jeronimo became slightly more human and extremely generously allowed us to sleep in the cab since he could now sleep in his bed.

We had a lie in until 8.30 and then set off in the truck again to unload the mototaxi. On waking up I discoved that during the night one of my boots had fallan out of the cab somewhere... The only other footwear I had was my flip flops... And now we were back up at around 4,000m in the cloudy early morning, it was freezing. Great, just what I needed!

Well, we got the mototaxi off the lorry, got it started, paid the twat his $100 at set off to find a mechanic to sort the brakes out (they'd been playing up a lot in Cobija) - it was Saturday and if we were to be able to leave La Paz early on Monday morning we had to get everything sorted then and there because the mechanics would stop working at midday and not be open on Sunday...

Our luck seemed to have changed - we quickly found some very nice mechanics nearby and after fixing the brakes they told us about a little old lady round the corner who had space to lock up the mototaxi for a couple of days while we went down to La Paz by taxi to find Michelle's friend's house. We'd been told that La Paz was a city built on the very steep slopes of a curved mountain range and that if we took the mototaxi down we could have a very difficult time with the steep streets. The road south to Uyuni left from El Alto anyway so it was perfect to leave the mototaxi and all the stuff that we didn't need up top to pick up on Monday morning.

Michelle's friend Bertha, her husband Klas and their two daughters Isabella and Antonia turned out to be really lovely and their house was incredible. We've spent two nights with them, washed all our clothes, had delicious food and wine, met some for their friends for an amazing barbeque and totally recharged our batteries and refound our enthusiasm for this trip.

Tomorrow morning we're off to Uyuni, inspired by Pete's blog and photos. I've just seen that three (or is it four?) teams have made it to Asuncion - that's fantastic! Well done, what a great effort! We're still on our way, but are probably about two weeks away, our flight out is on Wednesday 9th Dec... Wish us luck :-)